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Monday, June 21, 2010

New Wi-Fi Nook And Price Drop

This past March I mentioned that I expected Amazon to drop the price of its popular Kindle eBook reader soon after the Apple iPad arrived and I even had a suspicion that Amazon would release a cheaper Wi-Fi only version of the Kindle. Both would be great moves to keep Amazons eBook store ahead of the competition. But to my surprise, Barnes & Noble has moved ahead of the pack with those exact moves and made it official today. I first heard about the B&N moves from Len Edgerly on Twitter which were then confirmed by Dave Zatz.

A new Wi-Fi only nook is now available for $149 and the 3G/Wi-Fi Nook costs $199 versus the 3G-only Kindle which is still selling for $259. As much as the GeekTonic family loves their 2 Kindles, it’s going to be pretty difficult for Amazon to justify that $60 price premium over a more, fully-featured Nook let alone the $149 wi-fi Nook. Take that along with the competition from the iPad and Amazon should see its Kindle sales drop quickly without a significant move on their part.

Amazon, it’s your move. If you don’t hurry I see the Nook taking the e-reader niche away while Apple gets the rest.